Another week already! Time has never gone so fast. The days seem to fly even though I don’t do much other than feed, rock, bounce, change and clean. I have to admit by 6:00 I am ready to hand him over to Casey for a short break. Mom comes over a few days a week which also gives me a little break to get a few things done or run a couple errands.
There isn’t too much to report this week. Graham is growing like a weed and I really think he is pushing 12 pounds already. His disposable diapers are getting really small and we are moving to the bigger sizes in the cloth diapers. He also seems so long to me! I was looking at pictures this week because I am going to finally print some and I couldn’t believe how much bigger he is already. I got a little sad when I was looking at the pictures. Last year at this time I was recovering from my surgery! We have come a long way in a year.
We are still using the cloth diapers and I am really starting to like them. I could easily get addicted to them and if you let yourself go crazy you could spend a ton of money. I am liking the pockets that I purchased and I am not sure if I will return them or not, but they are expensive. I can see how they would be nicer and easier to use as he gets older, but I wonder how they will hold up over time. We are still using disposables at night, but I am planning to switch to cloth at some point. I need to do a bit more research and I think a pocket would be nice to have for nights. At the very least a wool or fleece cover would be nice to have for nights.
I will post a couple pictures tonight, but I have more to post eventually. I haven’t had time to do the editing yet. I will try to post the family pictures later this week when I get them fixed up a bit. My cousin Greg and his fiance came to visit us for an afternoon this week and we had a great time visiting with them. Graham loved them and both are naturals with babies. We are so excited to have some family in NC. This is the first time in my life I have had family in the same state (other than in-laws). I am sure we will be seeing them a lot and hopefully we will get more visitors now that there are more of us down here. I have some pictures from their visit that I need to add too.
Here he is at seven weeks. I need to try to get some new “poses” this week, but it is easiest to take the pictures when Casey is holding him so they all start to look the same. Taking pictures of babies that can’t sit up or really make faces is difficult! Then again all my animal pictures look the same too! I have some other ones, but they aren’t ready yet and I need to get to bed so I will do a mid-week post to add those.
Here is one of JD I took this week.
And not to be left out here are the bunnies cleaning Graham’s chair for him
This week I determined that Graham needs to be on the Zantec! At least for awhile. I am pretty sure he missed a dose one night because he spit up a lot and sure enough the next day we had lots of screaming after feeding and most of the day. The rest of the week as been much better. We still have lots of crying, but at least it isn’t that painful scream. We also discovered that he loves the exercise ball. Thanks to Christine for recommending it! It has been a huge hit so far, but now we have the problem of him falling asleep while bouncing and then he wakes up when we move him to his room. Graham does not like to sleep. I guess he is more like me than Casey when it comes to sleeping. He fights sleep and wakes up really easily. Of course the more tired he gets the more grumpy he gets and the harder he fights sleep. The good thing is when we do finally get him down at night he sleeps for about 4-5 hours and is usually easy to get back to sleep. Of course he goes back to his 2-3 hour feedings at that point, but at least I am getting a bit more sleep.
We have converted to using the cloth diapers during the day now. We still use disposables at night because I think he does feel more dry especially for that first long stretch of sleep. I am hoping to eventually switch to cloth at night too, but I am still experimenting and learning about this whole cloth thing. The hardest part is that most of his clothes don’t fit over his big diaper! I just have to dress him in bigger sizes or he wears a shirt and his diaper. I do sometimes put him in the disposable so he can wear a cute outfit. He still has problems with diaper rash and since I am using both types of diaper I am not sure which is causing the problem or maybe both. I need to make sure I am rinsing the cloth diapers really well because that can cause rash. The disposables have always caused his bottom to get irritated. The diaper sticks to him and I have to peel it off. Anyway we are using prefolds and covers for now. I ordered some fitted diapers that I get to try for one month and then I can return any that I don’t like minus 10%. At this point fitted diapers won’t really save us much money because each one costs $11-20 and you use them once and have to clean them. Prefolds are much cheaper and I can reuse the covers. When he gets a bit older and is going through less diapers a day I may use the fitteds more because they are easier. Of course by then I may love using prefolds and covers so much I won’t want to switch.
Not too much else going on with us lately. We like to go out on Friday nights for an hour or two and this week we went to Costco. How exciting, huh? It is just nice to get out for a bit. It is hard adjusting to our new life. At least for me. It has been just us for 7 years (together) and just me for 31! You get pretty used to your life and bringing in a baby sure changes it. I am sure it will get easier, just need to adjust and mourn my former life. 
I also hope to start exercising some soon. I think I will feel much better, but I don’t want to do too much since I am still getting limited sleep. I will start with some gentle yoga because I really miss yoga!
Here are a few pictures I took this weekend. Sorry, I love black and white. Color versions are on Flicker.
This is one I see a lot….
I got these socks at a consignment sale. I figured Grandpa and Uncle Zach would like them.
Our pet squirrel also entertained us some this week. He continues to hang out on the deck and we are pretty sure this was the same squirrel in the front yard. He has such a strange personality. He was digging an rolling in the dirt.
So far week five is off to a bit better start than week four. I am looking forward to the day that Graham can master his digestive system and realize his arms are not random objects out to get him. His arms are his nemesis. They wake him up and scare him on a regular basis. He startles very easy especially when he is on the verge of sleep. If I don’t wrap him extra tight he won’t sleep very long because those crazy arms start swinging around and wake him up. I have stopped eating dairy for the most part. The only dairy I have had the last few days is maybe a little butter in baked goods or my dinner last night (we went out again). I also started giving Graham Gripe Water and I am not sure which is making him happier, but we will continue with both for now. He still has his normal newborn breakdowns and likes to make a fuss about pooping, but at least he doesn’t seem to be in pain anymore. He doesn’t wake up from sleep screaming like his leg was cut off. No more arching his back in pain. He still spits up a fair amount, but it doesn’t seem to hurt him like before. We have also been going to the chiropractor. I sure hope he continues to feel better this week!
Our trips to the chiropractor have been an adventure. Gone are the days of things being simple. Get in the car, go to my appointment, maybe run a few errands and come home. Now I have to start packing up 30 minutes before I need to leave (giving myself a 15 minute cushion), get the diaper bag packed, my wallet and keys in the diaper bag, prep the car seat and of course get the little guy ready. Seems like it is always time to leave when he is getting hungry or sleeping. Last week I had to wake him up. Never wake a sleeping baby!! Ugh. I have only made that mistake a few times and only when it can’t be helped. He hates the car seat so he screams as soon as you put him in it. Mom went with me this week after the disaster that was the week before. She sat in the back with him and gave him his pacifier to keep him from crying. We get there and I go back to the room. He is crying so I get him out of the seat (this kid doesn’t have a nice soft newborn cry and never whimpers, he screams at the top of his lungs). He had a poop explosion, all over him, his outfit and the car seat. I scramble to get the diaper supplies out and realize I have no wipes! Great. I use a burp cloth to clean up the best I can, but he is still screaming and I am covered in poop. I have mom come back and she tries to help me. I wash my hands. The doctor comes in and adjusts me, Graham is still screaming for the most part. Then it is his turn. He does not like the chiropractor, but he did calm down after his adjustment. What a mess. We then have to come straight home. No more running errands, no more relaxed outings! Maybe one day we can go out without him screaming the whole time. He also screamed the whole time we were at the birth center the next day. Needless to say I am limiting my trips out with him until he learns to behave!!
Here is a picture from this weekend.
Check out this face!
Graham’s Nana, Aunt Valerie and cousins Ashlyn and Darby came to visit today. Here are a couple pictures of Ashlyn holding “Baby Graham”. She was so excited!
So the last two days we have had a little pet squirrel on our deck. He lays down and drinks the water on the deck and then hangs out on the railing. Here are a few pictures.
The month has flow by!! I can’t believe it has already been a month and I am packing up clothes that no longer fit. We continue to have problems with gas and now reflux so most of the time we do not have a happy baby. It really wears on you and he is making me think one kid is enough for us!! We went to the pediatrician on Friday after two very long hard days and got some medicine to help with the reflux. We have been giving him the Mylicon drops, but I probably don’t give it to him enough. I am trying the Gripe Water now in the hopes something will help him. I think we have entered our period of purple crying. 
On a good note he is sleeping longer at night and I think the Miracle Blanket is the key. It is the only wrap that keeps his hands and arms contained. He scares himself and wakes himself if his hands aren’t wrapped and help down. The last two nights he has sleep 3-4 hours at a time! Too bad he is so unhappy during the day. Once he gets the gas/poop out he is usually much happier. I feel so bad that I can’t help him. At his appointment on Friday we found out he is 9 pounds 7 ounces! So despite the reflux and gas he is gaining weight like a champ. I wasn’t expecting him to grow so fast. The cloth diapers I got to try are already getting too small. I am really on the fence with the cloth. They really aren’t hard to use, but I feel like he is always so wet in them. I am sure it is no fun sitting in a wet diaper and the disposables are so good at making him feel dry. Probably too good because the disposables continue to irritate his bottom. So on one hand I don’t like the disposables because they dry out his bottom, yet I like that they keep him drier!! At this point he is so grumpy with the gas and reflux issues that I may just stick with disposable and perhaps try cloth again when he is a bit bigger and feeling better. He hates diaper changes and I feel like I have to change him so much more with the cloth.
Last weekend my Uncle Gary and his girlfriend Christine came to visit. We were so excited they came all the way from Pennsylvania to see us and to meet Graham. They were kind enough to get us a new swing which has become our favorite baby item. We could not live without that swing! Graham sleeps in it all night and I am not sure how we will get him “off” the swing, but we will just figure it out later. If it keeps him sleeping that is where he will sleep for now. It seems to comfort him. He loves moving. I have some pictures of them with Graham in his flickr album.
On Graham’s one month birthday Casey and I went out for a quick bite to eat and a trip to Wal-Mart. This was my third or fourth outing without Graham. I am apparently not one of those mom’s that doesn’t want to leave their baby! In fact I love getting out. Of course I only go out for an hour or so because I want to make sure to get back in time to feed him. I always miss him when I am gone and love seeing him when I get back, but I do cherish my time out. I am looking forward to being able to get out a bit more and exercising! I really miss exercising, especially yoga. I think doing some yoga will really help me!
Note that I have added the full birth story to the site. On the top bar you will see “Birth Story” so if you are interested in reading the full thing you can click there to read it.
Casey wanted me to post this picture he took of me last week. Note this is not safe co-sleeping.
I also wanted to post this picture. Apparently how you sleep is genetic. This is exactly how his daddy and his daddy’s daddy sleep! Head back, mouth open and tongue out (PaPa). He looks so much like Casey as a baby in this picture!
Here is our one month picture. Don’t forget to check out his album of flickr for more pictures.
Well, Graham weighed 8 pounds 3 ounces at his 2 week appointment last week! He is getting so big already. I don’t really notice it, but his clothes are getting smaller and he fits much better in his car seat. It makes me sad that I am already packing up some of his clothes. At the same time I am excited for him to get a bit bigger in the hopes he will sleep for longer stretches. I am currently sleeping for about an hour at a time. It really is not fun especially at night and in the mornings. I try to take a nap in the afternoons when he is sleeping. I don’t sleep every time he sleeps b/c I do have to do other things like eat! I don’t really worry much with the cleaning and Casey is doing a great job at helping out around the house and letting me rest. I do need to try to get to bed earlier though. There are just so many things I want to get done and I am not used to not doing things.
Graham is still struggling some with gas issues or what appears to be gas issues. We give him drops and it helps a little. I try to burp him a lot, but sometimes no matter what I do he won’t burp. He seems to have the most trouble at night (of course). He starts screaming in his sleep and seems to be in so much pain. Red faced, tense, back arched and screaming like someone is killing him. Sometimes he will drift back off to sleep and others he wakes himself up and we have to start all over. I wish I knew how to help him. Hopefully it will pass soon. I may need to cut dairy out of my diet to see if it helps. Of course dairy is probably 75% of my diet so that will be really hard for me to do! We are going to the chiropractor today so maybe that will help…..
I posted a ton of pictures on flickr this week. I haven’t taken many lately because he won’t cooperate for me. I hope to get some more shots later this week for his one month photos. Already a month old! The time is flying by…. maybe it is the lack of sleep.
I need to add the pictures from out Charlotte shower and Casey zip line in the mountains. It is on the long list of things to do. Maybe I will get them posted before the fall.
My favorite pictures from the birth – look at the relief on dad’s face!!
Here is a picture of the rabbits. How cute are they? They are so in love.
Okay, this is the toned down, child and man friendly version of events. I will hopefully have the full thing ready to post soon and it will be on a separate page so you don’t have to read it if it is too much. I also will upload a few pictures. Still working on getting those uploaded.
I woke up Friday morning June 4th around 3:30 which was pretty typical for me. I got up, used the bathroom, but when I got back to bed I was getting some painful contractions. Just enough to keep me awake, but nothing horrible. I laid in bed until around 6:30 trying to decide if this was labor or just painful Braxton Hicks. Until that point I had several Baxton Hicks, but none hurt so I thought maybe this was it. I debated on whether I should try to work and something told me it was probably not a good idea. I emailed my boss at 6:30 saying I would not be for the day. I took a Tylenol PM so I could get a bit more sleep and was able to sleep until about 9:30. I got up and looked over all my labor paperwork. I decided to go up to Wal-Mart for a few last minute things and to see if the contractions went away when I walked around. I check out at 11:12 and I still have the receipt. When I got home I decided to time the contractions and they were about 8 minutes about, very short and I was able to continue doing things through them. We learned in our class that early labor should be ignored. Casey took that as ignore me. He was home working and I had to remind him to ignore labor and not me! He started training a co-worker to do a task he was supposed to do that night since the contractions appeared to be getting regular. I worked in the nursery, took pictures of it and some last minute belly shots with Casey’s hands on my belly. The contractions were getting a bit stronger and closer together so at 3:23 I called the birth center. When they called back I talked to Maureen and she thought it was false labor. She suggested sitting in the tub and taking a nap. I called our doula, Michelle at 4:11 to let her know I was having contractions. She also thought it was false labor which was very discouraging for me! How could this not be the real thing!
I got in the tub and tried to lay down, but the pain was too much. The contractions were about 4 minutes apart an getting stronger and longer. I was on the floor crying from the pain. I told Casey to get the doula over here!! He called her at 5:15. When she arrived she was able to calm me down and got me focused. By 7 the contractions were 2 minutes apart and very painful. I felt like I had no break. I could not have done it without Michelle’s help!! At 7:10 UPS delivered our new camcorder and we packed up the car. The drive to Chapel Hill is a blur to me. I was in the back, seat belt on, making tons of grunting noises and gripping anything in site. This was the point I told Casey I couldn’t do it, give me the epidural, I am never doing this again, etc.
We arrived at the birth center a little before 8pm. Maureen checked me expecting me to be about 4cm and to everyone’s surprise I was 10cm, no cervix and the little guy was right there ready to come out! Thank God because I couldn’t take much more!! They started putting water in the tub for me and I jumped in! It was nice and relaxing. Michelle told me to push if I felt the urge and I did. I will leave out the details here since this is the PG version. Graham made his appearance at 10:16pm in the water. It was wonderful and amazing to finally see him. I didn’t have time to get the IV antibiotics since he was born 2 hours after we arrived. I needed 2 doses 4 hours apart. Luckily he was fine and screamed as soon as he was born and for awhile after.
I look at him most days in shock that I grew him and somehow managed to get him out! It really is a miracle. I am very proud of myself for doing it drug free! It was not easy and as of now he will be an only child. I am sure I will eventually forget and want another one….
I wish I could say week two was as wonderful as week one, but I guess they can’t all be great! Sunday of week two (6/13) I woke up with a lot of pelvic pain and by noon I had a fever. I took a nap and woke up with a fever of 101.8. I was concerned since I also had the pelvic pain so I called the birth center and they went ahead and prescribed an antibiotic for me to start taking. We had to make another trip out there Monday morning so the midwife could examine me and determine what type of infection I had managed to get. It was a mild uterine infection and she said it was fairly common. In addition to being on the medication Graham started becoming very gassy (or perhaps because of the medication). The nights became harder since he refused to sleep in the co-sleeper and would wake up with gas pains often. We started giving him some Little Tummies which didn’t seem to do much good, but helps a bit. By Friday I was so exhausted from getting no sleep, getting nothing done during the day since Casey was back at work and would break down in tears almost daily. The weekend was such a blessing because Casey could take Graham for 2-3 hours and I could sleep!! Who would have thought 2 hours of sleep would be so nice. I currently sleep in 15-45 minute intervals depending on the gas situation. Graham also refuses to stay asleep in anything so he ends up next to me most of the time. Casey worries about him being in the bed and so do I, but it is the only way I can get even a little bit of sleep. He can be out cold, in a nice deep sleep and 15 minutes after he is in the co-sleeper he wakes himself up. Every single time! I have tried swaddling, sleep sacks and just about every combination of outfits. We use the sleep sheep, rocker, and swing. He does great until he is left alone with no movement.
If you didn’t get an announcement don’t fret, I had to order more because I ran out so hopefully the next batch will be going out in the next few days. I really hope to get them done tomorrow, but who knows. I also plan to take some more pictures and will hopefully get more posted on flickr soon. The announcements and napping during the day have been taking priority lately. I sleep so much better during the day!! Maybe I should not even go to bed and just live the nights like I live the days!
Here are a couple pictures for you guys until I can get more posted soon.
Well, I wrote this Friday night, but apparently it never got posted so here you go….
One week ago tonight I was working on pushing out baby Graham. Hard to believe it has already been a week. I am in much less pain tonight! I am hoping to work on the birth story tomorrow so I can post it. I will have a nice “edited” version for the front page and all the details for those interested on a separate page. Our doula came by yesterday for our postpartum visit and we were able to talk with her some about the birth and she brought us the CD of pictures she took. I am debating about posting a few of the PG pictures, but not sure yet. It was really nice for me to see them and to hear her talk some about the birth since there is a lot that I don’t really remember or can’t remember the details. When I look back the day went by really quickly. The week has also flown by and I am a little sad that our first week is over. It was so nice just hanging out with Graham and Casey all day. Watching him sleep and make little faces. I was hoping to practice a few newborn pictures, but I haven’t had time to get them done. I am hoping to try a few tomorrow.
I am starting to get a bit more tired as the adrenaline wears off and I get less and less sleep at night. Even still I am so happy and just love being a mom. I adore newborns. I know a lot of people are uncomfortable with the little ones, but they are my absolute favorites. I could just look at him all day which is probably why I get nothing done.
JD is adjusting to Graham. The first two days he protested and spent all his time downstairs as far away from us as possible. Eventually he started coming around us again, but would leave anytime Graham started crying. Now he sticks around even when he cries. He still doesn’t really like Graham and doesn’t want to get too close to him. The bunnies have the most unusual reaction to him. Ever since we brought Graham home the rabbits have been extra friendly. Even Moose who is generally not very nice to us has let us pet her much more. Tuscan craves attention from me. I was finally ready to get on the floor and pet him the other day and he let me pet him forever, even let me touch his feet and belly. Anytime I come over to him he is so excited to get some love and affection. In addition to being extra friendly they have been licking the couches like crazy. Licking just about anything and sniffing at everything. They must be picking up on a scent or something. I got a few pictures of them the other night when they were walking all around and on Casey while cleaning the couches.
Here is Graham’s one week picture. Make sure to check out his collection on flickr – Graham’s Flickr Collection
Sleeping on daddy today. For some reason daddy is much more tired than mommy! Not sure what is up with that. We are doing great. The birth center sent the RN out yesterday for our home visit. Graham was 6lb 6 oz yesterday when she weighed him and had gained an ounce today. He is a bit jaundice so we go back on Wednesday for another check. The jaundice was already a bit better today so it should be an issue. He had some issues nursing the first day and a half, but is doing really well now.
Well, there won’t be a 39 week post or picture this week!! Graham Matthew Blackburn decided to show up a bit early. I will post the birth story sometime this week, but wanted to post a few pictures.
While in labor on Friday I took some pictures of the nursery and a few more of the belly. I was hoping for more belly shots, but these were the last ones. Taken between contractions!!
The nursery. We need to hang the initials on the wall, but otherwise pretty much done.
Graham’s pictures on Flickr click HERE!!!